BERSIH 2.0

In conjunction with the BERSIH 2.0 event, this blog is now officially relaunched to view the latest political arena in Malaysia. Firstly, why BERSIH? The answer is simple, because it’s KOTOR!

Many of us believe that BERSIH 2.0 will remind us of what happened on the 10th of November 2007, when the Bersih Rally was first held in Kuala Lumpur (Dataran Merdeka and Istana Negara). The peace rally, organized by the NGOs and Pakatan Rakyat (People’s Alliance – PKR, DAP and PAS) which was meant for good – aiming to reform the electoral process in Malaysia was proudly declared illegal, and worse still, the unarmed patriots, the innocence were treated well by the ruling government (Barisan Nasional) when the Malaysian riot police, or the Federal Reserve Unit (FRU) served them with tear gas and chemical burst. This special response team, which supposed to be deployed to counter any emergency and public unrest were effectively used by the government to promote ‘democracy, Malaysian style’, as reported by Al-Jazeera English, an international 24-hour English news based in the middle east.

From the Youtube video showing the phone interview entitled ‘Menteri Bodoh Zainuddin jawab Aljazeera’, we can see the wisdom of the country’s Information Minister at that time, Zainuddin Maidin, as he proudly claimed that there’s democracy in the country when BERSIH was illegalized and the participants were dispersed with tear gas and water. This smart former chief editor of Utusan Malaysia (Malaysian Courier)- the so-called ‘penyebar fikiran rakyat’ (some call it ‘pencemar fikiran rakyat’), the most popular Malay language pro-government newspapers in Malaysia due to its truthful, reliable and independent news, had again successfully embarrassed the country by mocking at the Al Jazeera for taking the source of news from the opposition and not the government. He further added that it was unnecessary to hold the rally for the electoral system in Malaysia is clean enough to be relied on. As a result of the mass arrest and prosecutions done by the authorities, the Barisan Nasional government created a memorable history in Malaysia by losing its 2/3 majority in the general elections 2008, securing only 57% of the popular votes.

Tomorrow, 9th of July 2011, BERSIH 2.0 will be held officially, not just in Malaysia, but also throughout the world (United Kingdom, United States of America, Scotland, Ireland, France, Cabana, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Philippines, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand and etc.) Despite the support, assistance and effort provided by the ruling government, such as demonizing the peace rally and its organizers Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan and the committee members for being rebellious to the King and the country, accusing the opposition for attempting to overthrow the government through riots, banning the 91 influential figures from entering Kuala Lumpur, ‘protecting’ citizens with yellow shirts in police stations, having the police to set up roadblocks to smoothen the traffic flow and even sending 'encouraging' emails to the students (JPA scholars) in oversea, our Malaysian society has given good respond to participate in the gathering.

Many may question the possible result that may unlikely to take place after the event, in terms of bringing best benefit to the public and the country. However, what is more critical to us to understand is the importance of maintaining good governance in a country, in terms of credibility, accountability and transparency (CAT). Thus, we must not underestimate every single vote in our hands, for it is the collective power formed by every citizen that determines the bright future of a country. Every citizen has the right to voice out the weakness and shortcomings in government’s administration as it is indeed the citizens’ rights to decide the best for them and their children.

Some wise BN politicians gently ‘advised’ citizens not to be tooled and be fooled by the oppositions to grab the country’s administrative power, but are we ready to be used by the present authorities for a better country with ‘clean’ politicians and corruption-free government, promoting the freedom of speech and rights with Internal Security Act (ISA), respecting the freedom of press by acquiring the ownerships of all the main stream medias such as newspapers and televisions channels in Malaysia? Remember, the first BERSIH was able to attract more than 30000 Malaysians and tomorrow, BERSIH 2.0 is expected to draw more than 100000 patriots.

We are not alone, just that if you are attending this event in Malaysia, you must be extra careful, lest you may end up in police lockup, hospital intensive care unit (ICU) or …

Last but not least, have you registered as a voter?

“Power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely.” - John Dalberg-Acton

That is the voice of the people.